Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-10-01
SELECTIONS.
AN UNPLEASANT FOREIGN VISITOR.

AN UNPLEASANT FOREIGN VISITOR.
1t was not pleasant news that
came from New York last week tell.
ing of the arrival OF a cholera-infect.
ed steamer with six hundred passen.
gers on board. While the quarsn.
tine officers acted promptly, and
while no immediate danger is to be
apprehended, past history emphasizes
the Importance of putting in force
every precaution against this terri.
BILE epidemic, and tells US that it IS
we'll to bear in mind a few instruc.
tive facts in connection with the
disease. .G
Cholera is native of Hindostan.
For hundreds of years it has swept
its victims down by thousands in
India. Its great epidemics have u.s.
ually occurred at intervals of twelve
years, at the periods when big reli
gious festivals brought the people to.
gether in immense crowds. From
India it was carried gradually across
Asia to Russia. From Warsaw it
was transported to Berlin, from Der
lin to Hamburg, from Hamburg to
London. From London it was spread
over England, Scotland, Wales and
Ireland. A dozen Irish families
took it across the Atlantic to Que
bee. From Quebec it was carried to
Detroit, and from there down the
Mississippi to New Orleans. 'This
was in 1882, and was Asiatic
cholera's first introduction to Amer
lea. In 1S48 immigrants from Hav-
re brought the second visitation of
the scourge, arriving with it at New
Orleans. From there it was carried
up the Mississippi to Cincinnati and
st. Louis, and from the latter place
it found its way westward to San
Francisco, carrying suffering aud
death wherever it went.
But We will find the epidemic Of
1866, with its record and circum-
stances, to be more interesting in
the light of the late news than two
other visitations combined. On the
Sd of November, 1866, the steamship
Atlanta, from Havre, arrived at New
York with 525 immigrant passen.
gers. On the trip sixteen had died
of As'atic cholera. After the arrival
thirty.one more died in the hospitals.
The vessel was thoroughly cleansed
and fumigated, and all the psssen.
gers were strictly attended to. For
several months there were no further
indications of the presence of the
scourge, but In April two cholera in.
fected steamships arrived, and in
May and June few isolated cases
began to appear in and around New
York. From the middle of June to
the last of October sixteen other
vessels arrived; and the epidemic
continued. During that time 1,195
people died from its effects in New
York. 1t reached it's height in the
two weeks from July 2Sth to August
18th, during which time it killed 4S9
people. or those attacked, about
81 per cent. died. In cases where
the conditions were favorable, the
percentage of deaths was 40 per
cent. 1t is well known how the cpl
demic rapidly extended from New
York to other cities. We had it in
Baltimore, and its record here is
easily recalled. In Brooklyn there
were 500 deaths ; in st. Louis, 1852
in Philadelphia, S34; in Cincinnati,
1, 200 in Chicago, 97S; IN Memphis,
1889; in other cities it's victims were
numbered by hundreds, and alto
gether the epidemic of 1866 killed
1000 people in this country.
/ Uncleanliness is what cholera
feeds upon. Nearly all its victims
get it by drinking contaminated
water. There is no great danger
where the water sources ars Jealous
ly guarded, where the pipes are in
thorough order, and where the sur
roundings are kept free from dirt
and pollution. It's foolish, of course
to be unnecessarily alarmed by the
arrival of the Alesia at New York
| but the case should not De without
its moral. City departments should
pay additional attention to the care
of the streets, and house-keepers
should see that they are not disobcy-
ling the laws of sanitation.
An ounce of cleanliness for pre-
vention is worth a pound of cholera
cure.